Pages Stained With Blood
Encyclopedia
Pages Stained With Blood (2001) originally published as Tej Aru Dhulire Dhushorito Prishtha is an Assamese novel by Indira Goswami that depicts the gory Sikh pogrom in Delhi as an aftermath of the assassination of the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
in June 1984. First published in Assamese in Goriyoshi
literary journal in episodic form, it generated controversy in conservative Assam due to the love story between a professor and a riksha puller.
It is pieced together from first person accounts of victims, newspaper reports and the unnamed female protagonist's relationship with the various men in her life during the early eighties of Delhi
, India
.
at the Golden Temple in Amritsar brings sudden twist to the novel and the protagonist plunges headlong into the crisis for most of the people she is close to are Sikhs. At last, her book is drenched in Santokh Singh's blood and she loses all her recorded material.
It is a novel with the character of a memoirs, and often the protagonist is identified as Indira Goswami. In several interviews she stresses that there is no difference between fact and fiction in that book.
Sexuality
For the conservative Assamese society, it created a stir due to the frank confession of sexual attraction the first-person narrator feels to Santokh Singh, the rickshaw puller, with whom she visits the riot-affected areas such as Jahangirpuri, Shakti Nagar.
Delhi
The City of Delhi is the most important character in the novel. Though the backdrop is of immense political and social crisis, the author attempts to complete her book by visiting various places such as Mirza Ghalib's house, the prostitutes of GB Road – the famous red light area of Delhi. Her preoccupation is often the remnants of Mughal Delhi and the Delhi of the dispossessed.
Blood
Blood is the most importance metaphor and presence in the novel. The hair-raising accounts of the riot-affected areas and that the writer's notes are at last drenched one night as a result of which she is unable to complete her book on Delhi brings the horror of the riot very close, almost to the interiors.
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
in June 1984. First published in Assamese in Goriyoshi
Goriyoshi
Goriyoshi is an Assamese language literary magazine published by the Tribune Group. It was founded by Chandra Prasad Saikia, who was also the first editor. The magazine is published monthly. Current editor Dr. Lakshmi Nandan Bora assumed the post in April 2009...
literary journal in episodic form, it generated controversy in conservative Assam due to the love story between a professor and a riksha puller.
It is pieced together from first person accounts of victims, newspaper reports and the unnamed female protagonist's relationship with the various men in her life during the early eighties of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Plot summary
The story follows a young Assamese woman who teaches at the University of Delhi and is an author. She is busy writing a book on Delhi and regularly jots down anything that crosses her mind. The Operation Blue StarOperation Blue Star
Operation Blue Star ) 3– 6 June 1984 was an Indian military operation, ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, to remove Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar...
at the Golden Temple in Amritsar brings sudden twist to the novel and the protagonist plunges headlong into the crisis for most of the people she is close to are Sikhs. At last, her book is drenched in Santokh Singh's blood and she loses all her recorded material.
Major themes
Thin Line Between Fact and FictionIt is a novel with the character of a memoirs, and often the protagonist is identified as Indira Goswami. In several interviews she stresses that there is no difference between fact and fiction in that book.
Sexuality
For the conservative Assamese society, it created a stir due to the frank confession of sexual attraction the first-person narrator feels to Santokh Singh, the rickshaw puller, with whom she visits the riot-affected areas such as Jahangirpuri, Shakti Nagar.
Delhi
The City of Delhi is the most important character in the novel. Though the backdrop is of immense political and social crisis, the author attempts to complete her book by visiting various places such as Mirza Ghalib's house, the prostitutes of GB Road – the famous red light area of Delhi. Her preoccupation is often the remnants of Mughal Delhi and the Delhi of the dispossessed.
Blood
Blood is the most importance metaphor and presence in the novel. The hair-raising accounts of the riot-affected areas and that the writer's notes are at last drenched one night as a result of which she is unable to complete her book on Delhi brings the horror of the riot very close, almost to the interiors.
Legacy
It is used as a textbook in several universities in India. The current critical discourse surrounding the novel is often laudatory. The new generation of writers and intellectuals celebrate this novel as a classic in Assamese literature.See also
- Assamese literatureAssamese literatureAssamese literature is the entire corpus of poetry, novels, short stories, documents and other writings in the Assamese language. It also includes popular ballads in the older forms of the language during its evolution to the contemporary form. The literary heritage of the Assamese language can...
- The Man from ChinnamastaThe Man from ChinnamastaThe Man from Chinnamasta is a novel published in 2005 and written by Indira Goswami, who was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1983, the Jnanpith Award in 2001 and the Prince Claus Awards in 2008...
- DelhiDelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
- 1984 anti-Sikh riots1984 anti-Sikh riotsThe 1984 Anti-Sikh pogroms / riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre was a sikh genocide there was four days of violence in northern India, particularly Delhi, during which armed mobs killed Sikhs, looted and set fire to Sikh homes, businesses and schools, and attacked gurdwaras, in response to the...
- Indira Gandhi assassinationIndira Gandhi assassinationIndira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, was assassinated on 31 October 1984, 9.20 am, at her 1, Safdarjung Road, New Delhi residence.She was killed by two of her Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, to avenge the military attack on the Harmandir Sahib during Operation Blue...
- Operation Blue StarOperation Blue StarOperation Blue Star ) 3– 6 June 1984 was an Indian military operation, ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, to remove Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar...